enemy's warriors were to fall, and their wail must be heard like the wail of a woman. The wigwam with its smoke curling upwards, indicates a council fire and the defiance of an attack. The other wigwams are seen without fire; and the black one signifies silence and death.

When I was young I was taught this, and while singing I could, in imagination, see the enemy, though none were within a hundred miles.

In their war songs animals are likewise represented in various attitudes. A rattle is made of deer's hoofs which is shook during the singing.

This rattle was sometimes used for the purpos transmitting news from one nation to another; b most cases shells were used for this purpose. I ha been present in Canada when a string of beads has bee received from the head waters of Lake Superior. A profound silence ensued, then followed a revelation of the message, and at its close a prolonged grunting sound from the vast assembly signified the people's assent.

There is a place where the sacred records are deposited in the Indian country. These records are made on one side of bark and board plates, and are examined once in fifteen years, at which time the decaying ones are replaced by new plates.

130

THE OJIBWAY NATION.

This secrecy is not generally known by those obeying who have searched with interest the Indian, and trachich him in all his wanderings to get an idea of his religionor and his worship, which however absurd they may have seemed, have nevertheless been held in so rigid respect that he has formed for it a cloak of almost impenetrable mystery. He concluded that all Nature around him was clothed in mystery-that innumerable spirits were ever near to forward a good object and retard a bad one, and that they existed as a chain connecting heaven with earth. His medicine bag contained all those native things of the forest around which, in his opinion, the greatest mystery gathered; as the more of mystery, the more of the Great Spirit seemed to be attached to them. A whale was an object of much importance, because it was dedicated to the Supreme Being, and to approach it, or look upon it irreverently, would offend him and his children. They therefore never drew near it but with the most profound silence and veneration. With this great awe of spiritual things in his mind, he feels reluctant to reveal all that he knows of his worship and the objects and rites which perpetuate it.

Most Indian Nations of the West have places in which they deposit the records which are said to have originated their worship. The Ojibways have three such de

TRADITIONAL HISTORY OF

enemy xies near the waters of Lake Superior. Ten of the hear

its

sest and most venerable of the Nation dwell near

these, and are appointed guardians over them.

Fifteen years intervene between each opening. At the end of this time, if any vacancies have been caused by death, others are chosen in the spring of the year, who, about the month of August, are called to witness the opening of the depositories. As they are being opened, all the information known respecting them is given to the new members; then the articles are placed before them. After this, the plates are closely examined, and if any have begun to decay they are taken out; an exact fac simile is made and placed in its stead.The old one is divided equally among the wise men. It is very highly valued for having been deposited; as a sacred article, every fibre of it is considered sacred, and whoever uses it may be made wise. It is considered efficacious for any good purpose it may be put.

These records are written on slate rock, copper, lead, and on the bark of birch trees. The record is said to be a transcript of what the Great Spirit gave to the Indian after the flood, and by the hands of wise men has been transmitted to other parts of the country ever since. Here is a code of moral laws which the Indian calls "a path made by the Great Spirit." They believe that

a long and prosperous life will be the result of obeying that law. The records contain certain emblems which transmit the ancient form of worship, and the rules for the dedication of four priests who alone are to expound them. In them is represented how man lived happy in his wigwam, before death was in the world, and the path he then followed marked out an example for those of the present time.

During my travels over the whole extent of the Nation, I have been informed of a great many facts respecting these sacred depositories of which most of my brethren are ignorant.

The Chief of Lac Coart, Oreille, ("Moose Tail,") in the spring of 1836, related to my uncle John Taunchey, of Rice Lake, C. W., an account of one of these depositories near the mouth of "Round Lake."

He said he had been chosen as one of the guardians about five years previous, and that the guardians had for a long time selected as the places of deposit the most unsuspected spot, where they dug fifteen feet, and sunk large cedar trees around the excavation. In the centre was placed a large hollow cedar log, besmeared at one end with gum. The open end is uppermost, and in it are placed the records, after being enveloped in the down of geese or swan, which are changed at each examina

tion. These feathers are afterwards used in war, being supposed to have a protective power. When camping, a few of these feathers are left near each place where the warriors dance.

These are some of the figures used by us in writing. With these, and from others of a similar class, the Ojibways can write their war and hunting songs.

An Indian well versed in these can send a communication to another Indian, and by them make himself as well understood as a pale face can by letter.

There are over two hundred figures in general use for all the purposes of correspondence. Material things are represented by pictures of them.